Events

Live Blogging Adventures: Big Data Week



In a week that includes my 7th grade virtual school student going to a very real-world testing location every day to take the Georgia CRCTs…AND my crazy mother packing up and moving from Georgia to Washington State…AND my 10th grade daughter conquering the world with power smashes and aced serves, playing high school varsity tennis as a sophomore — and winning! — in the state championship preliminaries…all this week…

It’s also BIG DATA WEEK:ATLANTA!!!
Hosted by Emcien Corp, a company with which I am intimately involved.
[Disclosure: My husband is a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Emcien.]

This is a Very Big Deal, on a level that I, as a non-techie, could not have expected, in terms of international scope, big-corporate participation, the calendar of activities scheduled, and the number of people involved and so very, very enthusiastic about the Next New Thing in Technology: Big Data.

Big Data is everything, from the location & use of your cellphone, to online transactions, to what you put in your shopping cart at the grocery store, to healthcare, to your social media activities. It is mind-boggling, and in many ways downright creepy, how much information is out there, the extent of our individual & collective digital footprint, and how that information can be used.

So, in the midst of CRCTs, State high school tennis competition, and my crazy mom, counting down the days to high school graduation (exactly 30) and my oldest son’s departure to the Navy (OMG, exactly 60 days from today)…I am visiting the World of Big Data and live blogging my experiences as a non-techie writer in the techie world. Adventures indeed:

GAME CHANGE

Big Night Out recently, much needed: Hubby was my +1 to Atlanta Press Club/HBO screening of GAME CHANGE – Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin, Ed Harris & Woody Harrelson – focus on McCain/Palin campaign in 2008. Wow, it was great! Discussion w/co-exec producer after.

I don’t even like Sarah Palin, but I am more sympathetic to her after seeing GAME CHANGE — and after my own little collision with politics on a local scale. The political system will chew you up and spit you out in little pieces. Palin came out of it stronger for the experience, certainly well-known and embraced as an extremely popular political figure. She is very charismatic and wily/cunning, but frighteningly ignorant of basic history and foreign policy.

Love her or hate her, you will enjoy the movie GAME CHANGE.
Check out the Rebel Review: MOVIES: GAME CHANGE on HBO